By Karen Sloan

May 27 (Reuters) - U.S. law firms hired more associates from rival firms than from law school graduating classes in 2025, according to a new report from legal analytics outfit Firm Prospects, suggesting a move toward more experienced lawyers.

The study found that the overall associate hiring was down 5% from 2024, with firms making 24,441 associate hires last year. Of those hires, just 38% were law graduates coming straight out of school — down from 46% in both of the previous two years. Lateral associates comprised 49% of 2025’s hires — up from 43% in 2024 and 42% in 2023.

That shift, coupled with a 10% increase in partner hiring among the 200 highest-grossing U.S. law firms, “points to an industry-wide focus on experience, as law firms' bias toward hires they feel can ‘hit the ground running’ and contribute more quickly to the organization,” according to the report.

The report doesn’t pinpoint precisely why firms took on a higher proportion of laterals last year, but offers some theories, such as the adoption of legal technology — including AI — is taking over some of the tasks traditionally performed by junior lawyers.

The breakdown of the traditional on-campus summer associate hiring process in favor of direct applications has also complicated law firm recruiting, the report found. Meanwhile, law firms’ return to office mandates may be a factor in associates changing firms, while an increase in the number of states using the Uniform Bar Exam has made it easier for lawyers to practice in multiple jurisdictions.

A surge in government lawyers departing for law firms also contributed to the trend towards hiring attorneys with experience, the report found. The number of attorneys leaving the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission more than tripled in 2025 when compared to 2024, and government departures remained high in the first quarter of 2026.

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